On Trial for their Lives

Death penalty prosecutions threaten the innocent in N.C.

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Causes of Wrongful Prosecution
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Find wrongful prosecutions by county.

All of the following cases are wrongful capital prosecutions carried out in North Carolina since 1989. They are instances in which the state prosecuted a person for a death penalty eligible murder, despite not having enough evidence to prove the defendant even committed the crime. Unlike the exonerees tracked by the National Registry of Exonerations, these defendants eventually had their charges dismissed or were acquitted by juries — but most spent years in jail and many lost homes, jobs, relationships, and their financial and emotional stability.

Brenda Copeland

Date of Arrest: 08/26/1998
Durham County
Race: Black
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
Tainted Forensic Evidence
Names of Victim(s): Katherine Guy

Type of Case: Dismissal before Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 04/21/1999
Days in Jail: 190
Received Bond


Terri Louise Hinson

Date of Arrest: 11/20/1996
Columbus County
Race: White
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
Tainted Forensic Evidence
Names of Victim(s): Joshua Cade Hinson

Type of Case: Dismissal before Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 04/17/1998
Days in Jail: 61
Received Bond


Michael Keith Lee

Date of Arrest: 05/27/2003
Cumberland County
Race: White
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
Tainted Forensic Evidence
Names of Victim(s): Veronica Ward

Type of Case: Acquittal at Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 08/28/2008
Days in Jail: 1921


Leslie Arlene Lincoln - Detailed Profile

Date of Arrest: 09/19/2002
Pitt County
Race: White
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
Tainted Forensic Evidence, Tunnel Vision
Names of Victim(s): Arlene Lincoln

Type of Case: Acquittal at Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 03/23/2007
Days in Jail: 1133
Received Bond


Jermaine Antoine Smith

Date of Arrest: 02/16/1996
Wake County
Race: Black
Causes of Wrongful Prosecution:
Tainted Forensic Evidence, Unreliable Witness Testimony
Names of Victim(s): Chasity Wilder, Ashley Wilder, Shatona Wilder, Rogedrick Wilder

Type of Case: Acquittal at Trial
Date of Acquittal/Dismissal: 10/17/1997
Days in Jail: 610
Time deliberated by jury: 2.5 hrs


About this Project
 
The Wrongful Capital Prosecutions database is a project of the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. It is the only database in the United States that tracks the cases of people who are charged with capital murder but never convicted. Based in Durham, North Carolina, CDPL represents death-sentenced men and women in North Carolina and works to end the death penalty. Learn more about CDPL’s work.

Learn More
 
• Learn more about the North Carolina death penalty at NCDeathPenalty.org.
• Read stories from North Carolina’s death row.